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Stealth_Bomber

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  1. Stealth_Bomber
    Pre-ED was much more powerful. Blasters were very powerful then, because you could six-slot any power for damage, and use Devices Targeting Drone six-slotted ToHit for high accuracy. You could six-slot Hasten for recharge and it provided Defense as well. Stamina could also be slotted for End Mod, so you never ran out End.

    Regen Scrappers were incredible in those days. Paired with Dark Melee they were almost unkillable.

    I witnessed a Hydra Trial where our entire team was killed except the Fire/Fire Tank, who proceeded to herd up the entire cavern of +3 Rikti bosses and destroy them using Burn.

    We were told when ED was announced that there was a plan to offer more powerful enhancements and that we would be able to reach essentially the same level of power as Pre-ED. I don't think that goal has been reached. Is it possible to have every attack at 198% damage (that is 6 slots of even level SOs)?
  2. Stealth_Bomber
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Darth_Khasei View Post
    That's because Blappers are too busy killing ish to be bothered posting here.
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by UberGuy View Post
    Badly off-topic, but I recall it being an AR/Dev Blaster who largely mowed green critters on the streets and used Smoke Godnade to deal with everything serious.

    But that's like saying I recall being told what someone said after a 100-pass telephone game. I'm passing on what my friend's second cousin's sister's dog's second account told me.
    This is correct. There was an error in Smoke Grenade when the game was released. The ToHit Debuff was 100%. Yes you read that right. 100%. This was described as a decimal error (duh) and was corrected to 10%, and even back then there were cries of "Nerf"! But before the correction was made, SG was incredibly powerful and Blaster damage was high. Add in that you could six-slot AR attacks with damage SOs using TD six-slotted for ToHit buff and pre-purple patch, pre-ED AR/Dev was a monster. Massive AoE, you never missed anything, and with the original SG enemies couldn't touch you.

    I have no idea how or when SG got nerfed to 5% debuff that it has now. Jack was still in charge, I do remember that.
  3. Stealth_Bomber
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by cybermitheral View Post
    Of all the thread im reading on Blasters and their roles and issues with mez Ive yet to see someone mention Blappers.

    Ive never made a Blapper (melee damage = Brute/Scrapper) but I know of some that LOVE to play their Blappers.

    The Dev's may not want to alienate those players by forcing a "Ranged Damage only" role.
    I don't mean to seem harsh, but I'd give the same response others give about changing Blasters (i.e. "You want Blasters to be Corruptors? Go play a Corruptor"):

    You want to play melee, play a melee toon. You want a combo, play a Kheldian or Dom. Melee capabilities add very little to a Blaster. How many melee Blasters do you see in Incarnate missions? (I'm sure there will be some that chime in and say "My melee Blaster is better than sliced bread on Incarnate Trials", but the truth is they aren't.)
  4. Stealth_Bomber
    This is a great thread. I think I would approach the answer as though I were building a team for a tough TF. I might think "This TF will go a lot easier if I can find a [insert AT here]." For some, it might be a Tank, for others it might be a Kin, for others it might be a Dom, but almost never is that AT a Blaster. Why? Because right now a Blaster does not contribute enough to a team. Want AoE damage? A Corr or a Dom will be better because they bring buffs or control with almost the same damage. Single target? Scrapper or Brute, please. And the support staff won't have to babysit them to keep them alive.

    That last sentence bears more exploration. Your typical Scrapper doesn't care about the makeup of the group. Everyone there is great and will help defeat stuff faster, but he/she doesn't need any particular AT. The Blaster, though, needs a Tank and/or a Healer-type to keep going. And will have to keep careful watch on his inspiration supply. I want my Blaster to be like Iron Man in the recent movies: tough but not invincible, with strong ranged damage.

    I think the thing that should differentiate Blasters is strong ranged damage, with a focus on AoE. Right now, just using AoE powers without buffs/debuffs, it's hard to tell that there is much difference between my Corruptors and Blasters damage. Most Blaster powersets have only two AoE blasts, typically a cone and a radial targeted power. When a blaster fires those off, only Bosses and tough Lts should still be standing.
  5. Stealth_Bomber
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Airhammer View Post
    Blaster.. I identify targets.. take them down strategically.. I attack through the tank... I move.. I hover to stay out of melee.. I move to break line of sight..

    I guess its because I am doing more.. I enjoy them more..

    but the AT needs help badly..
    Blasters face exactly the same opponents that every other AT does, with fewer tools to help themselves. It's the Secondaries that are the weakness.

    When your Scrapper friends are getting Shield Charge and One with the Shield, we get melee-range single-target attacks for the most part.
  6. Stealth_Bomber
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Agent White View Post
    The concept is glass cannon. Pretty sure we're not exactly sticking strictly to concept in any of these discussions.
    Right. I think it would go a long way to improving things if:

    - They increase the levels of powers you can use while mez'd above the first couple.

    - Make secondaries more useful. Instead of a damage aura that stays on the Blaster, make it castable instead. I'd use the same animation and effect like Radiation Infection, but make it a toggle AoE damage instead, centered on the target like RI is.

    - Player-centered toggles like Chilling Embrace should just suppress when mez'd instead of turning off. Forcing the player to restart them adds an extra penalty to being mez'd.

    - One idea that comes and goes is adding a resistance to whatever damage you deal, i.e. a Fire blaster has some minor resistance to fire damage, and is passive.
  7. Stealth_Bomber
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Antigonus View Post
    I see a large number of builds that concentrate of high defense to avoid damage and mez, and this is a very good idea from a min/max perspective. However, most of those builds I see choose not to take Acrobatics, one of the single best methods the Devs have given Blasters to lessen the impact of mez. If mez is such a concern, why are so many Blasters choosing not to take that enormously effective power?
    Because the price of admission (two power picks, three if you count Acro itself) is too high, and the power can be replicated in large part by IOs that don't shut off or cost End. Acro also provides resistance to Hold, not immunity. Being Held less time is not that great to justify the prerequisites. Mez resistance just reduces the time you are under it's effect, it does not prevent the effect from happening, and even less than a second of sleep or hold will shut off some toggles.
  8. Stealth_Bomber
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Fulmens View Post
    Re range vs. melee "tankmages": I have relearned from the Blaster experiment that it's a lot easier to get ten people into Energy Torrent than five into Shadow Maul. Blasters can hurt more people, more. I have also relearned that it doesn't make up for being six times more delicate. (From my Force Field days, I can promise you that a Blaster without the fear of death does a HELL of a lot of damage.)

    Re "ED" and other pieces of the good old days: we can get close to one SO of damage from new Defiance, and we have the damage cap to actually USE all of BU + Aim + slotted damage now. Used to cap at 400% instead of 500%. Also they HAVE increased Blaster HP once. And I believe they increased the ranged damage modifier to 1.125 from 1.0, but I could be wrong about that. Blasters aren't all that far behind issue 4 damage; they just lost the issue 4 ability to hit 200 critters at once with that damage.

    Re mez protection: They added knockdown to CoT crossbows. It was good, that day, that I didn't live near the studios. The amount of mez in this game is utterly stupid. And 90% of the blasters, for 90% of their careers, duck less than 30% of the incoming mez. "It gets better"- bull. Before a blaster gets any meaningful safety from mez, it is given to half the minions AT RANGE. And unless you're playing the "Skip the first 49" plan... you have to survive level 49 to get to level 50.

    Mez is something that Defenders and Corruptors have to deal with, in the sense that a small percent of the attacks with mez may land on them. It's something Blasters have to deal with, in the sense that every punk with a swordgun has a chance of mezzing them every shot. Every minion in Crey power armor, half the Malta... freaking level 25, you can get stuck in a slugfest with a CoT boss and have no escape. It's straightup "who runs out of HP fastest" and that's no way for a Blaster to win a fight.

    Edited: "No escape"? Well, what about Break Frees? I'm sorry, I used most of my limited stock of inspirations to try and cover the lack of Defense and the lack of combat heals. I ran out of Break Frees in fight #6 and I forgot to put ten in gleemail. How many inspirations does your Scrapper use in a fight?
    This is brilliant, and should be page one of "Devs Review of Blasters".
  9. Stealth_Bomber
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by DrGemini View Post
    Two things...
    [snip]
    I'm not sure what you are doing but my blaster doesn't have problems staying alive so long as I am willing to play smart and not trying to expect myself to survive the same things that a Scrapper can.
    But isn't that the issue in a nutshell? Why shouldn't you expect to be able to do what another AT can, even if you have to use different approaches to get there? If a scrapper can take on a big pack of purples in melee and emerge unscathed why shouldn't a blaster expect to do the same from range?
  10. Stealth_Bomber
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Arcanaville View Post
    The cottage rule requires that the devs not change the execution mechanics of a power, eliminate a primary effect benefit of a power, or alter the order of a power within a powerset, without a balance-significant reason for doing so that cannot be satisfied in any other practical way.

    That definition is canonical, and neither the gravity changes nor the stalker changes violated the rule in any way.
    With all due respect, the early changes to Dark Miasma were pretty dramatic way back when, and the changes to Dark Armor toggles, Moment of Glory, Defiance, Vigilance and several others were mostly about player complaints, not some predetermined grand plan of balance. Many changes were for PvP, like travel power suppression, having no real need in PvE. The changes to Stalkers could have been accomplished by increasing the damage in other powers, or probably a hundred other ways. It was Castle that was the champion of that rule, one that has prevented improvements that need to be made.
  11. Stealth_Bomber

    Why only six?

    POST-ACTION

    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Aett_Thorn View Post
    Why can't we ask for both?
    Agreed. More flexibility would be great. And I like MB's idea of generic doubles or triples, say, an Acc/Dam that could be slotted in any damage power.
  12. Stealth_Bomber

    Why only six?

    POST-ACTION

    It occurs to me that an IO set could have a number of enhancements possible, instead of the current number of six. Yes you can only SLOT six in any given power, but how about a little more choice? Maybe you prefer more damage, but I prefer more recharge. With 8 or 10 IOs to choose from in a given set, we would both be able to choose what makes sense for our characters. If we both pick six from the set, we get the same set bonus effects. This would allow for more variety without having to create several more IO sets.
  13. Stealth_Bomber
    First of all the cottage rule can no longer be in effect with changes to Stalkers and Gravity. Good riddance.

    Devices: Change Time Bomb into Hand Grenade. Use the animation from the temp powers that already exist. Adjust damage to be appropriate.

    Devices: Add a defense bubble to Gun Drone. For gosh sakes the set gets no Build Up and Drone is a level 38 power.

    All Blaster secondaries: toggles like Chilling Embrace, etc should not toggle off when you get mezzed, just suppress.

    Devices: Smoke Grenade and Taser should accept Range enhancements. It's a ranged AT, these are ranged powers.

    The upcoming Summer Event IOs looks like they will make Dark Blast: Umbral Torrent a much more team-friendly power, so no complaints there any more.
  14. Stealth_Bomber
    Thanks - I found a lot of low level characters I must have tried and disliked but never got around to deleting.
  15. Stealth_Bomber
    I came back to CoH as a re-subscriber to find that most of my characters are locked on Freedom server. I'd rather not waste an unlock on a character only to find that I'm not going to keep it. Can locked characters be moved or deleted?
  16. Stealth_Bomber
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by warden_de_dios View Post
    Finally Umbral Torrent will no longer mess up Night Fall and Tentacles on my Dark blaster. Nice. And it adds Ranged Defence to a Targetted AoE. Also nice.

    But it's only able to be slotted in one power, so it's not going to change Energy blasters all that much.
  17. Stealth_Bomber
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Synapse View Post
    This was the feedback that I received repeatedly from you all during this thread. Which is why we've decided to only use recharge on a power from enhancement sources and alpha slots. Global recharge will not reduce proc chance. Take a look at previous posts for all the details

    EDIT: Curses! Scooped by Sanguine Sentinel!
    Would it be possible to show the PPM rates when we examine the power details in the Manage Enhancements screen? If you are considering doing something to change the recharge of a power, you might be interested to see if the PPM changes.
  18. Stealth_Bomber
    I was just playing a Stalker with the new AS mechanic, and it occurred to me that snipe attacks would benefit from the same treatment. Namely, the drawn out attack does high damage but that the power could be used as a regular attack as well. It would make a snipe usable more often, making it less situational like the changes to AS do. I don't know how to differentiate status for ranged attacks in the same way Hide works, but maybe there is some way to do it. Distance to nearest enemy maybe: farther than 40 yards gets full snipe animation and damage, closer and it's a faster attack with slightly less damage but not interruptible.
  19. Stealth_Bomber

    Sorcery Power Pool

    POST-ACTION

    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Miladys_Knight View Post
    I would give them tanker level mez protection.
    • Tanks, Scrappers, Brutes, Stalkers all have mez protection. Some of them also have defense which reduces the number of mezzes that land.
    • Veats, Heats both have mez protection. Veats also have defenses available that further reduce the number of mezzes that land.
    • Defenders and Corruptors (with the notable exception of TA) either have mez protection as part of their power set, have powerful debuffs/and/or defenses that reduce the number of mezzes that land to a mere 5%, or in the case of Empathy/Pain Dom, need not enter combat at all.
    • Controllers and Doms can lock an entire spawn down by themselves eliminating incoming mez. Controllers get a weaker version of of the above defenses and debuffs but can stack that on top of their control. Dominators get mez protection when Domination is up which is easily more than half the time on SOs alone.
    • Masterminds get Debuffs, power sets with mez protection, and henchmen that take most of the mezzes for them and those henchmen can still fight even if the MM is mezzed.

    Blasters get..... defiance. They can use all the powers they have at level 2 provided they are not KB'd. There are several magnitudes of underpowered/under performing in that comparison.

    A total of 2 blaster epics provide defense. This defense is Smash/Lethal. There are very few mezzes that are stopped by this defense type. Against even level foes blasters ARE going to get hit by 45% of all mezzes launched their direction. Because of the amount of damage a blaster deals a good chunk of agro is going to be directed at them even on teams.

    A perfect example is what my wife and I are doing right now. We are playing a themed team. I am playing a Fire/MM blaster named Adam Bombed. She is playing a Dark/Time Corruptor named Eve Entually. We have duo'd (or had additional team members but we are always together) since creation.

    I started playing CoX a year before she did and I average more play hours per week so have more experience playing. We are level 18 now and Lost, Circle, Tsoo, and Arachnos are common mobs that we fight. We are playing on +0/x4 and have been since level 12 (access to DOs).

    On a typical CoT map I can easily go through an entire tray of breakfrees and be completely out when we reach the final mission boss. She will need to use 1 or 2. I have (and use) Return to Battle and Inner Inspiration. My wife still lacks these. I eat insps like candy. My wife rarely needs to use any.

    She has and uses her AoE attacks. They do less damage but have a built in debuff. I have and use AoEs. They do much more damage but lack debuffs. Even with her standing in front of me (nearer to the mobs) I draw significantly more agro.

    At this point in time I have used 1 experienced charge (she has used none). I have logged out in the police station to gain additional XP from the day job (she has not). I am 1.5 bubs of XP behind her with all the above things considered.

    Blasters with out mez protection are broken conceptually and mathematically in comparison to every other AT in the game.
    Absolutely 100% correct. This has been my experience playing Blasters since the early days of CoH, even though they are my favorite AT. I've been away for a while, but I re-subbed and this description remains true.
  20. Stealth_Bomber
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Derangedpolygot View Post
    The RW cost gives you the Attuned quality; higher proc performance was not intended.
    Fair enough. Wouldn't it seem, then, that the right thing to do would be to offer an option of a refund if the new change is not satisfactory to the customer?

    Or at the very minimum a free unslotting token to get the now-undesirable item out?
  21. Stealth_Bomber
    Great, thanks very much
  22. Stealth_Bomber
    I'm returning to CoH after a long time in a galaxy far, far away. My question is about epic and patron power availability. Are these available now at level 35? When I left, they were not available until the 40s. Is there a difference in availability (i.e. are epics available in the 30s now but patron powers not until the 40s)?

    Thanks,
    SB
  23. Stealth_Bomber
    The reason most don't like the shape-shifting transform time is because they lose seconds of effectiveness of Build Up, Hasten and inspirations by the time wasted during the animation. So, extend the duration of Build-up and other time-dependent powers by the time it takes to transform.
  24. Stealth_Bomber
    1. Blasters
    [insert big space here]
    2. Corruptors
    3. Stalkers
    4. SoAs
    5. Doms
    6. MMs if I can get a concept going

    Scrappers, Brutes are easy mode and boring- if you can't kill everything with 4 armors, a heal, and End power and full status protection, you should feel shame. I have tried and tried to like Controllers and I just can't get past the low damage early on. Warshades are powerful but too "busy" for me to enjoy. Can't get into most Defenders (but I do have a 45 TA/A thanks to Luminara's guide), insta-delete Tanks in the Tutorial, and (at least currently) Peacebringers are worse than wet socks on a campout.
  25. Stealth_Bomber
    /em Stands in awe of the computer knowledge shown here.

    * Bows deeply in respect and appreciation